Peter Dutton has confirmed all of Australia's defence troops have now been withdrawn from Afghanistan.
The Defence Minster said there had been 1,500 troops in the country, which was recently reduced to 80, and now they have all been withdrawn under the advice of the chief of defence.
The withdrawal comes earlier than the original September deadline.
"That doesn't mean we won't be a part of campaigns with the United States perhaps involving the SAS or special forces where we deem that to be in our national interest or in the interest of our allies," he told Sky News on Sunday morning.
"For now though, that campaign has come to an end."
It comes amid calls for the government to do all it can to protect Afghans who assisted Australia during its mission in the war-torn country.
Locals who were employed by Australian agencies to assist as interpreters and other roles now fear they could be murdered by the resurgent Taliban, which considers them “traitors” for working with foreign forces.
Mr Dutton said the government was taking a “rigorous approach” to granting protection visas, saying it “makes no apology for that”.
“If we’ve got the wrong person here, somebody who had played both sides, somebody who had worked for us in 2016, 2013, 2010, but had now affiliated with the Taliban … I suspect people that are making the calls for that individual to be here would be not seen and not heard of," he said.
Former prime minister John Howard, who sent Australia into Afghanistan, told SBS News earlier this week the country bears a moral responsibility to help the Afghans who worked with Australian agencies.
“Where it is clearly the case that they could be in danger of retribution, we have an obligation to help them if necessary, by giving them visas to come to live in Australia,” he said.
“That is a moral obligation we have. And it was a moral obligation that was shamefully discarded many years ago when we pulled out of Vietnam. I do not want to see a repetition of that failure in relation to Afghanistan."
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said on Friday he “absolutely agrees” with Mr Howard and the government was "moving on that as quickly and as safely as it possibly can".
A number of Afghans have told SBS News they applied for the government's Afghan Locally Engaged Employees (LEE) visa program but were rejected because they were indirectly employed by Australia.
More than 230 visas have been granted to Afghans and their families under the LEE program since 15 April, when Australia joined the UK and US in announcing a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan.
More than 1,480 visas have been granted since 2013.
Meanwhile, Mr Dutton says the threat of terrorism hasn't gone away and whether that manifests in Australia, in the Middle East or elsewhere around the world, then Australia will be part of an effort to defeat that.
Minister for Defence Peter Dutton Source: AAP
He wants there to be a national day of commemoration for those 39,000 troops that served in Afghanistan in the past two decades that saw the loss of 41 Australian lives.
"I want those diggers to hear very clearly the message that because of their efforts in Afghanistan, in Iraq and in the region, they have stopped terrorist attacks from taking place in our country," he said.
"We are incredibly eternally grateful for that."
He sees it as a similar story to other days of national significance in the military calendar, such as Anzac Day and Vietnam Veterans Day.
Additional reporting by AAP.
